Bill of Lading Parser Setup Guide

Automate bill of lading processing with a custom BOL Parser. Extract shipper, consignee, and cargo data from shipping documents.

Before You Start

Before setting up your parser, ensure you have:

A PerfectParser account (sign up at perfectparser.com).
A healthy credit balance (each BOL page processed consumes 1 credit).
A sample Bill of Lading document (PDF, PNG, or JPEG) to use during the parser setup.

Recommended Fields

We suggest configuring the following schema fields for your Bill of Lading Parser to capture all essential logistics and cargo data.

Field Name	Type	Description
`bol_number`	Text	The unique Bill of Lading reference number.
`shipper_name`	Text	The company or exporter shipping the goods.
`consignee_name`	Text	The buyer or company receiving the goods.
`carrier_name`	Text	The freight line or transport carrier (e.g., DHL, Maersk).
`ship_date`	Text	The date the cargo was shipped.
`origin_port`	Text	Port of loading or pickup location.
`destination_port`	Text	Port of discharge or delivery destination.
`total_weight`	Text	The overall gross weight of the cargo.
`cargo_items`	Table	Table containing `package_count`, `weight`, `description`, and `hazmat` status for each cargo unit.

AI Prompt (Optional)

To help the AI parser extract field values with maximum accuracy, copy and paste the following prompt instructions into the AI Prompt (Optional) field during setup:

Extract the BOL number, shipper name, consignee name, carrier name, ship date, origin port, destination port, and total gross weight. Also extract the cargo items table containing the package count, individual weight, description of goods, and whether it is hazardous materials (hazmat).

Next Steps: Build Your Parser

Ready to build this? Follow our Create a Parser guide for step-by-step dashboard instructions to set up your schema, and then learn how to process files in Bulk Extraction.

Developer Integration

If you want to automate Bill of Lading parsing programmatically inside your applications:

See the Create Parser API Guide to manage your parsers programmatically.
See the Start Extraction API Guide to submit BOL files and retrieve extracted JSON payloads.
See the Webhooks Reference to configure automatic webhooks that deliver extraction results to your server as soon as they are completed.